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Security
Sony to Officially Name North Korea as Source of Hack Attack
December 3, 2014, 10:08 AM PST
Sony Pictures will officially name North Korea as the source of a hacking attack that has exposed sensitive files and brought down its corporate network last week, two sources close to the investigation tell Re/code. An announcement could come as soon as today.
Details of what Sony and the security firm Mandiant will announce are still being finalized. But the sources confirm that North Korea will be named as the source of the attack.
A Sony spokeswoman declined to comment on the timing or the news, but said “The investigation continues into this very sophisticated cyber attack.”
Re/code first reported on Nov. 28 Sony was investigating the possibility that hackers working on behalf of North Korea was behind an attack.
Launched last week, the attack forced employees of the movie studio to shut down computers and work with pen and paper. Later, sensitive files including employee salary data, product plans and video files of five motion pictures were leaked to the Internet.
The announcement will be the first public acknowledgement of what has so far been only a matter of conjecture. North Korea has sought to stop Sony from releasing a film called “The Interview” that depicts two American TV journalists who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
Update (11:52 a.m. PT): Adds Sony statement.
